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Thursday, December 31, 2015

I don't know how we were spared from the heavy rain we were all expecting yesterday but the wind more than compensated and it was hard work riding back into it from Old Windsor. This is Peter's route to the Fox and Castle and back, nearly 15 miles to lunch and almost 10 miles back to Notcutts, although nobody stopped for Tea.

I hope that 2016 will bring lots of safe and enjoyable cycling to everyone.

A very happy New Year to all the Wayfarers, with a special thanks to all the ride leaders for some great rides, not to forget those that marked the corners and those that back marked.I hope that the coming year will be as good as the last

Well Jeff T, I congratulate you on your new personality quiz profile. I am so intrigued as to know who the profile you paint eludes to especially as there is probably no one other than me that has done so much business in the past in that ill fated country called Libya than me! It is a country I grew to know well in my later years before retirement having visited Tripoli on many occasions and also some of it's oil field installations.
I hope that you get a good response!
I have posted this on the MWW Blog as most people read that but I guess it should be a DA Blog but hardly anyone looks at that.
Best regards,
Mike M (Commonly known in KPRC as MMHM - moaning mad hatter morley)

You have exactly 24 hours in which to cram in those last miles for the period 1st January - 31st December 2015; then reset your Cateye/Garmin to zero for 2016 and send me the result. Time is fast running out.

There will be a New Year's Honour for the Lady and Gentleman who, riding regularly with a Section of the DA, have pushed themselves further than the rest and for the member with the greatest increase in mileage over 2014. These honours cannot be bought and are not for hacks or time-servers. They have to be earned. This is a true meritocracy.

Whatever the figure, please let me have your achievement to record on our Honours Board.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Our appreciation to Graham for a well judged curtain-closer for 2015. A well-balanced cocktail of parkland (almost entirely mud-free) and some unfamiliar suburbia from Walton-on-Thames to Putney Bridge, with lunch in the former mecca of the I.C.L. universe, now a jewel in the crown of J.R.Wetherspoons. A ride to blow away the cobwebs.

The forecast for Storm Frank sounded dire with southerly gusts of 40+ mph and heavy afternoon rain. But it was never that bad.

Just 13 A riders crossed Walton bridge before heading east to Sunbury and Hampton. Here we turned north to Hampton Hill (what hill?) and through the park to NPL. Compared with recent days, the High Street was empty as was Teddington Lock bridge. Hoping to introduce some culture, we detoured to take in the brutalist architecture that is Parkleys. and the Victorian Latchmere House (awaiting redevelopment). From Ham Gate it was NCN4 though we exited through East Sheen Gate. As usual the Mortlake level crossing was closed as is (almost) the Stag brewery. It is now owned by the developer who is remodelling Teddington Studios into flats. Once again the High Street was empty as we turned into Barnes by the Bull's Head. To save the Editor's blushes a continuation along a potentially muddy NCN4 was discarded so we continued past Putney Hospital (15+ years empty but soon a school and yet more flats). Many will remember WF Holdsworth Putney; there's scarce any trace of it now. And thus we reached The Rocket Putney, or if you prefer Wetherspoons.

After much display of smart phones, a bare majority were for home so now there were six. From the Half Moon we cut through the backstreets and Ashburton Estate to Telegraph Road followed by more architecture in the form of the vast Alton Estate. From what I could gather, few had used the Chohole Gate which just left the final ascent, Test (or more correctly Broomfield) Hill. And no tea stop.

Home by 1415, fully an hour before any rain and there was precious little of that. Call it a modest 33 miles door to door.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

What a beautiful day it turned out to be, 6 decided to come on my ride, we had intended to go to Dorney Palmers Arms for lunch but time ran out so we stopped at Datchet, It is a lovely old pub, the food was excellent and far too much, but didn’t go to waste it got passed around the table, the staff were really attentive and welcoming. It was nearly 2.30 pm when Simon, Dave Jarvis, Tony, Vic, Pam and me left to cycle home. Pam & I couldn’t understand how we had a head wind there and back again?? but It could have been worse.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Further to the great success of the photo competitions since we went digital for the first time we invite you to take part again this year. Please submit your photos before the end of January.There is now a category for the Best Group Photo thus catering for the many photographers who have taken good photos of a mixed group of cyclists. The winner in this category will receive the brand new Pete Mitchell Memorial Trophy.Please use this method for sending the photos to us:

Note that he award for a winning photograph in each category will be given to the photographer who took the picture, not to the model.

[If the method for submitting photos described above does not work for you please let me know as there may be a work-around. As a last resort I will ask you to email your photos to swlda.photos@gmail.com . Attach a single photo to each email and in your message give the information about the photographer, category and each photo, as above.]~ Tim

Saturday, December 19, 2015

On a relatively warm day for December, 18 cyclists left Leatherhead for Wimbledon Common via a route beloved by the late Pete Mitchell. We went through the side of Ashstead Common which was not as muddy as expected for an off-road at this time of the year.

The route took us past Hornton Park, Worcester Park, Old Malden then on to Raynes Park where we picked up John Gould at his home. John appreciated riding with us for the short distance to Wimbledon Common.

At the Hand-in-Hand 15 of us enjoyed a pleasant lunch served in good time. Because of the short days, there was no tea stop and we hope everybody returned home before it got dark.

Daniella (John Gould's daughter from Colorado Springs, USA), emailed her grateful thanks to the group for involving John in our ride.

If anyone has a serious interest in either proposition I will work up some
blurb with Photos etc.If not I will
happily carry on until my legs give out and that is certainly before the
titanium frame will be ready for the scrap yard.

Call, or even better, text me on 07768 045 698 in the first instance.Geoffrey
Shields

On leaving the Cap in Hand I found a neatly folded UniQlo thermal vest near where our bikes were parked against the car park wall. If it belongs to any of us please let me know - d.vine207@btinternet.com - and I will return it.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Arthur Eddington*, who died in 1944, was an astrophysicist and mathematician of some repute. He defined, for example, the number of protons in the observable universe, though there was, and I gather still is, some debate as to whether he was right.

However, more importantly in this context, he was a cyclist. Not uncommon in his line of work, Einstein was, too. But what Arthur did was to devise a handy scheme for measuring your long-distance performance, which has the very desirable characteristic of encouraging you to ride further. 'Mildly addictive', some say.

For cycling, the Eddington Number is defined as E, which is the maximum number of E miles that the cyclist has cycled in E days. All clear so far?

It's very simple, as an example will show.

If you have ridden 10 miles in a day, 10 times, then your Eddington Number is E10. Easy as that. But - and it's a big but - if you want to increase your Eddington Number to, say, E11, then you've got quite a bit of riding to do. E11 is 11 miles in a day, for 11 days, so none of the 10 mile rides that got you to your E10 score is any good ...

For a real cyclist, things aren't so bad as the example makes out. Your ten rides for your E10 will likely be a handful of 10-milers, a couple of elevens and, perhaps, a 13 miler. Any ride you have ever done counts, the rule is the mileage on the day - no time limits. So some of your rides list is re-usable, but most isn't. Of course, the bigger the number, the bigger the problem for the cyclist. If you have, over a period of years, got to, say, E60 but have only a handful of rides over 60 miles, then E61 is going to take quite a bit of riding to get the 61 61-mile days in.

Arthur's own E-Number was E84, which is very respectable. Mine is E70 at the moment; I hope to slowly increase it, but without any particular effort. I ride many Audaxes, typically 60-odd miles, some centuries and a number of randonnées that tend to be 120-odd miles in a day. So I have loads of rides at 70 miles and below, quite a number a hundred and over, and a bit of a soft spot in between. If I keep doing the longer rides, then the problem will solve itself, and my Eddington Number will rise slowly.

It would be nice to achieve E84, and match the great man himself.

So that's it - simple enough to understand, and a purely personal challenge. No rulebook, no committee - and indeed no prizes. If you spend a winter afternoon sorting your rides list into distance order, then you'll know what your E Number is.

And, of course, you'll know how many rides, of what length, that you need to do to increase it by one ...

Saturday, December 12, 2015

About 8 riders left Claygate for our ride to Woodies. A new rider joined us, Miles. We turned left from the day centre, and under the A3 tunnel to Long Ditton. Another left to Surbiton, then up to Berrylands. We didn't stop for tea as Sandy and I wanted to get through Nonsuch Park before it got dark. Miles said he enjoyed the ride and roads he didn't know. He hopes to join us again, weather and work permitting.Lynda

I plan to lead the B Group from Leatherhead to the Hand-in-Hand Pub on Wimbledon Common.
The pub is in walking distance of John Gould's home and we are hoping that he will be able to join us.
It will be a flat and easy ride and as the days are short, no tea break is planned.
See you at Leatherhead,Frank H.

Friday, December 11, 2015

My thanks and appreciation to all who blogged their comments and
photos of the day and for everyone who thanked me for organising the
lunch before making their way home. My pleasure - thank you :) :)

The day started well, bright and beautiful! Tony Hopkins kindly took
my route on board and so we were able to split into two manageable groups
arriving at the pub in plenty of time for our 1pm booking.

Wednesday's route was the same as last year - my thanks to Gill.
I know it was a somewhat 'roundabout' ride, via Esher, Hampton Court, Kingston
and The Dittons, but we could not have ridden directly to
Hook or we would have got there almost before we finished our
elevenses!!!!

There were already several people at the pub when we arrived and it was
fantastic that John Gould was able to join us. I must add that the meals were
good and the staff at The Cap in Hand did a grand job -they looked after us
well. Thirty nine sat down for lunch, sorry, minus one for
sadly Ingrid was unwell - hope you are OK for next week Ingrid! Andy was
also sick, poor chap - but Bernard took his place!!

Fourteen A Group riders set out from Claygate to ride to
Tower Bridge on Wednesday. Despite the numerous traffic lights we made good
time, two hours to lunch where we were joined by Dave Vine. Lunch over we ‘roared’
through Peckham, Denmark Hill, Clapham and Wandsworth commons and all points
west to our final destination at Wimbledon, Windmill café where we were met by
a long lost A rider, Graham.

A good urban ride, well done to everyone for sticking
together. My thanks to Steve and Simon for back marking and Geoff for guiding
us around ‘his patch,’ Cannon Hill.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Below a few photos taken at the lunch
and a link to the photos taken during the ride: https://goo.gl/photos/5kZyPXZB5pJs6cST6
Thank you, Pam, for organising our Christmas Lunch which went very smoothly.
A Merry Christmas to all,
F & F

Sunday, December 06, 2015

A riders, this week we are abandoning the Surrey Hills and going into London. Lunch at Weatherspoons on Tooley Street at the junction with Tower Bridge and a ride back down Denmark Hill and tea at Wimbledon Windmill Cafe. Traffic can be heavy so it's important to stay tight but lots of opportunity for getting up some speed. Loads of opportunities to peel off home if you need to. Prompt start from elevens.

Saturday, December 05, 2015

Not that again! Yes: as well as being the title of a "popular" rap song, ICE stands for In Case of Emergency - your emergency contact details. I'm making a list, to be published with the Wayfarers Contact List very soon. About two thirds of you have kindly provided your details already - thank you very much.

If you don't have email but mysteriously are able to read this, I will be circulating a form on good old paper at the Christmas lunches. If you want your ICE details to be included, and you haven't already emailed them to me, please add them to the form. Baby.

Thursday, December 03, 2015

Riding to Cobham was really pleasant. 8 left the centre at 11.30 am and proceeded along the A307 towards Notre Dame School then right into Convent Lane, Right turn along Seven Hills Road, Right at Burwood Road and left into Burwood Park Estate, exiting on the A317 and straight over the roundabout across railway bridge and left into Oatlands Chase, Right at bottom to Walton on Thames. Straight over brought us to The Swan then on past the day centre to Wetherspoons where I had to leave everyone. Lynda kindly took over at this point.

Big thank you to Lynda for being T.E.C. and leading the group after lunch.

Well it’s December so short days are guaranteed, but the
weather is a lottery. Wednesday’s forecast for the past week had been for rain
and wind, so I had built that into my plan; in the event we had wind, well more
of a breeze from the southwest, but no rain on the ride, and amazingly mild.

The plan was a short (31 mile) round trip from Cobham to
Shamley Green. Familiar roads to Ockham, then Ripley Road and the climb up
Shere Road to descend Combe Lane to Shere. Then Little London and Farley Heath Road,
where we managed safely to negotiate the mud-covered road left by the Xmas tree
fellers.

16 of us had left Cobham, and 2 elected to push on to the
delights of Cranleigh. Lunch was at the Bricklayer’s Arms, crowded with early
Xmas partyers, unlike on my recce; service was friendly but we had 45 minutes
wait for our lunch, though when it arrived was excellent.

Return was via Blackheath, Chilworth and Albury, before the
climb up Combe Lane, the highlight of the day; maximum gradient about 15 to 25%
depending on how you took the last corner. The second highlight was the long
descent to Cobham with the wind behind, arriving at Sainsbury’s for tea at a
hopefully well timed 3:30.

Many thanks to Geoff for back-marking and Mark for
photography, and to everyone for good company.